In this episode of Stone Written, Dr. Rhon sits down with Kara Endsley, the Sonja Haynes Stone Center's first full-time Philanthropy Officer, for a candid conversation about fundraising, legacy, and the urgent work of securing the Stone Center's future.

Kara brings over 30 years of fundraising experience — and a deeply personal connection to this mission. Together, she and Dr. Rhon pull back the curtain on the real challenges facing the Stone Center: limited resources, disenchanted alumni, and the repair work needed to rebuild trust with a community that has every reason to be skeptical.

But this episode is also a call to action. With a bold $25 million campaign underway and the fiscal year closing in, now is the time to show up. Whether it's $20 a month or $20,000 — your investment is your vote for the Stone Center's survival and its legacy for generations to come.

Sources:

• Get in touch with Kara Endsley, the Stone Center’s Philanthropy Officer, via email or our website.

• Make the Sonja Haynes Stone Center your philanthropic priority!

• The Sonja Haynes Stone Center website and linktree.

• “Defining Philanthropy” as love of humankind (May 2026) by Michael Layton.

In this episode of Stone Written, host Dr. Rhon sits down with Dr. Donovan Livingston — educator, poet, MC, Chapel Hill Poet Laureate, and UNC alumnus who initially struggled to make it through. Now back at Carolina as Teaching Assistant Professor and Director of College Thriving, Dr. Livingston reflects on the full-circle journey from undergraduate to community leader and scholar.

They dig into what it really means to thrive — beyond GPA and accolades — and explore the dangers of hyper-visibility in the social media age. Dr. Livingston gets candid about what it was like when his 2016 Harvard graduation speech, Lift Off, went viral, racking up millions of views and a shoutout from Hillary Clinton — and why going viral isn't all it's cracked up to be.

From the power of educators who make room for students to become themselves, to the concept of "body fictions" and the false intimacy of social media, this conversation moves between the cosmic and the deeply personal. Expect poetry, real talk, and a cipher or two.

Sources:

• About Dr. Livingston (via UNC-Chapel Hill)
• Dr. Livingston’s famed speech, Lift Off
• College Thriving curriculum at UNC-Chapel Hill
• Debra Walker King, Body Politics and the Fictional Double (2000).
• The Sonja Haynes Stone Center

This episode features Jaha Nailah Avery, UNC law school alum turned griot and professional storyteller. Jaha shares her journey from practicing law to freelance writing for outlets like Vanity Fair and The New York Times, explaining how she left a lucrative tech career to pursue meaningful storytelling work. She discusses her books, including Those Who Saw the Sun: African American Oral Histories from the Jim Crow South, and her role as a keeper of cultural memory. The conversation explores the importance of documenting Black history, the courage required to tell truth in dangerous times, and strategies for resistance through joy, creativity, and ancestral connection.

Sources:

Jaha Nailah Avery, I Heard: An American Journey (Penguin Random House, 2024)

Jaha Nailah Avery, Those Who Saw the Sun: African American Oral Histories from the Jim Crow South (Levine Querido, 2023).

A selection of Jaha's public works:

• “10 Black History Tours and Experiences in New Orleans” (Conde Nast, 2024)
• “As it Nears 25, ‘Eve’s Bayou’ is Still Radical—and Wonderful” (Vanity Fair, 2022)
• “Fashion on a Mission: Celebrating Black Life, One Thread At a Time” (Essence, 2026) [See also Jaha’s author’s page on Essence]
• “How the Peacock Chair Became a Symbol of Black Power and Liberation” (Architectural Digest, 2023)
• “Where Rihanna Got Her Style Groove” (New York Times, 2022)